Second Chance in Love
by jaaay.p
Summary: When newlywed Audrey Cullen dies, she is shocked when the Gate Keeper said it wasn't her time to go. She is sent back to Earth in a new body of a recently deceased 24 year old, Bella Swan. Can she find a way to get her husband and her life back?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Dear readers, listen carefully, cause I'll only say this once! I own nothing but my own thoughts, my own ideas, and my own second-chance Bella! Please, don't try to sue me. Thanks, S Meyer for allowing all of us twilight lovers the chance to make the story our own.

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**Prologue**

Dying is never something someone 22 really anticipates. I've never thought about the possibility as something more than a "what if?" that was quickly dismissed. It definitely was not on my mind the morning of June 16, 2010.

The sun shone through the window of my new house, something I never had to anticipate in my old apartment. My old bedroom face the west, where as my new one, faced the east. But this minor setback would never put a damper in my love of the house. I could live in a shed in the desert, and as long as Edward was there, I would be happy.

As if he read my thoughts, Edwards entered the room.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cullen," he said with a smile on his face, "I don't think I will ever get tired of calling you that."

"Well then, husband, it's a good thing that I will never get tired of hearing it."

He came over to our new bed, and gave me a soft kiss. His soft lips had always made me weak in the knees, and I was glad to know that they still did. His lips touched mine softly, and he began to pull back. I felt my lips begin to turn downward, and as soon as he noticed, he chuckled and placed them back where they belonged. His tongue caressed the outline of my bottom lip, before begging for entry - which I gladly allowed.

"Mm, I could spend all day kissing you," I whispered.

His chuckle filled the room, and made my heart flutter. Now there was something I would never get tired of hearing.

"And I wish we could too, my love. But, unfortunately, my lovely sister - and your official sister in law - would kill me if I didn't let her steal you to go shopping for our late honeymoon," he said with a sigh.

Agh, Alice. I loved her dearly, she had been my best friend since we were five. I spent every waking minute with her during my teens, and if it wasn't for her, I would have never been granted the amazing opportunity to marry Edward Cullen.

Despite all of this, I couldn't help but be a little annoyed by her obsession with shopping, when all I wanted to do was enjoy staying in bed with my gorgeous husband.

I found myself mimicking the sigh that Edward had just let escape.

"Can't she just go without me? It's not like I'm going to have much input anyways," I sulked.

Edward smiled my favourite crooked smile, shook his head, and left me to get dressed. Argggh, fine. I would go, and I would rush through it. Then I could come home, make love to my gorgeous husband, and fly off to my super secret honeymoon spot.

That thought alone would get me through the day. I quickly through on a pair of tights and a floral printed dress. I figured that if Alice didn't have to spend 20 minutes yelling at me for wearing a pair of old jeans and tee, it would give me more time to get back to Edward, and that was something I would sacrifice comfort for.

Finding the appropriate footwear was something that was not quite as compromisable. I knew Alice wouldn't be happy if I paired my outfit with a pair of sneakers, but I definitely didn't trust myself in heels. _Think of Edward, Think of Edward,_ I kept thinking, and finally gave in. Grabbing the first pair of high heels out of our unpacked boxes, I contemplated if they would be a good choice. The four inch stilettos would please Alice, but my balance would displease me. _Think of Edward,_ UGH. Fine. I through them on, strapped them up, and said my goodbyes to my husband.

It wasn't until I was on my way to the subway that I realized, I should have trusted my instincts. If I would have stuck with the sneakers, old jeans, and tee, maybe I wouldn't have died that morning.

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Authors Note,

Hey lovely fanfictioners, welcome to my new story. I really hope you enjoy it, I think that it will be a good one.  
I only ask one thing of you, if you do like it, PLEASE review. They make my day and motivate me to take my story to the next level.  
I get a lot of alerts, subscriptions and what not. Guys, if you click review, you can enter a couple words, make my day, AND subscribe!

Love always,  
jPaul.


	2. Chapter 2, Anywhere but Here

**Chapter One, Anywhere but Here**

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The subway jolted to a stop, and the dinging noise ran through my ears as the doors slid open. I took in one big breath, mentally preparing myself for the torture of shopping. _Think of Edward_, I told myself one more time, before emerging through the sliding doors.

As my foot hit the solid concrete floor, something felt wrong, my gut wrenched and twisted. I continued walking, the click clack of my heels echoing loudly through the station, and then it happened.

Two men dressed in black run towards me, gun in hand. Unable to move, I stood frozen. Everything was moving in slow motion, the screams louder than any siren I'd ever heard.

As the largest man ran towards me, he pushed me aside. Losing footing, I fell to the side. The last thing I remember is my head hitting the hard floor, and then everything turned black.

As if someone snapped their fingers, I was awake. Blinded by lights, surrounded by people. I gathered the strength to stand up, and placed my hands on the ground.

Instead of feeling the cold concrete of the crowded subway station, my hands were now on a soft, bright white carpet.

_Awful hospital, the least you could have done was put me on a bed._

A hand appeared in my vision, offering help to allow me to stand. Reluctantly, I took it and was raised face to face with a tall blonde man.

"Hello, Ma'am," he said, a warm smile coming across his face. His strong southern accent shining through, "my name is Jasper Whitlock, and I will be here for you today to help you through your process."

"Does that include leaving me on the floor, Mr Whitlock? I expected the service at these places to be much better than this."

A low chuckle rumbled through his chest, as he looked at me pointedly. "Mrs Cullen, I'm not sure where you think you are, but take a look around you before you take another guess."

So, I looked around, nothing that you wouldn't see out of the ordinary at a hospital. Many seniors, a couple of people my age, a couple of children.

"Looks like Heaven's waiting room," I said under my breath.

"Exactly," Jasper said, looking at me expectantly.

When I finally got what he was trying to tell me, I couldn't help but laugh. Hard. Someone must have let this man out of the psych ward, that would explain his all white ensemble.

Before I could say anything, he grabbed me by the shoulders, and turned me body around. In front of me was a set of large, pearly gates, literally.

I felt my face rearrange itself into a shocked expression, and slowly turned around to face Jasper.

"This isn't a hospital?"

He shook his head.

"I'm in heaven?"

He nodded.

"This isn't a joke?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. My. God. I'm dead! I _DIED_! What about Edward? I just got married! I shouldn't be dead yet!" I was ranting mostly to myself, but I was sure at the volume of my voice, everyone around here could hear my one-sided conversation.

Jasper grabbed me by the shoulders, and immediately I felt calm.

"Now, now Mrs. Cullen. This could be a very great thing for you, you could make it to heaven! All we need to do now is look at your past deeds. Can we do that?" He talked in a soft, almost patronizing voice.

I couldn't help but nod, Jasper had a way about him that could change the mood you were in. I was now perfectly content.

"Well, then Ma'am, lets get started," then he snapped. Out of nowhere, a computer desk appeared. Not-so-surprisingly, it was all white.

"You know, you guys could add some colour to this place. All this white can really wash a person out," after the comment escaped my lips, my hands flew up to cover my mouth in surprise. When it finally hit me, I had to laugh. Alice was_ finally _starting to rub off on me, and I was dead. She was going to be pissed.

He laughed at my obvious inner dialogue, then typed something into his computer.

"Alright lets see," he announced before lowering his tone, " good deed, good deed, mediocre deed, bad deed.."

I had to blush, the only bad deed I could remember doing in my life was.. to put it bluntly, Edward - before marriage.

"Come on, you don't still expect that rule to hold in place, do you? We were practically married, living together, in love, what else could you ask for?" I joked.

At my words, Jasper raised his eyes to mine, and his face turned ghost-white.

"I was.. kidding," I said in a small voice.

He sat in the same position for what felt like hours, unmoving, before he blinked, and excused himself for a minute. He walked over to another tall, strong man dressed in all white, I was guessing another gate keeper.

They had a very hushed conversation, until the strong man exclaimed, "A MISTAKE?"

That's it. It was a joke, I wasn't going to let that determine my fate. I stood up, made my body language scream, "confident", and walked over to where to conversation took place.

"Now, listen. I'm sure lots of other people here had pre-marital sex, it's not THAT bad! It was not a mistake to have me up here, I've done a lot of good things in my life. Don't you dare send me to Hell for having sex!"

By the end of my very loud rant, everyone in sight was staring, some people looking disappointed at me, some people smiling as if to say, "you go girl," and some people looking worried.

The two gate keepers must have noticed, because they looked frustrated and embarrassed.

"Whitlock, take care of this, its on your shoulders," the tall man said, with a sigh.

Jasper simply nodded, because grabbing me by the small of my back and leading me towards his desk.

"Listen, Jasper. I didn't mean to get you in trouble, I've just had a really hard day as you can imag -" Jasper held up a finger, stopping what would have been a very long, run-on apology.

"Mrs. Cullen, I'm about to tell you some very disturbing news, and I need you to stay relatively quiet through it, can you do that for me?" I nodded my head, very intrigued by what was about to come.

"Now, it appears here that this was not your time to die.."

"WHAT!" I exclaimed, standing to my feet. If you thought THAT was a scene, prepare yourself a breakdown.

Before I could continue, Jasper raised his index finger and thumb, and closed them together. Immediately, my lips were stuck together. Then he raised his hand higher, and swiftly dragged it down. Within seconds, I was seated back in my seat, unable to move or talk.

_Touche, Whitlock._

"Sorry I had to do that, Audrey, but I can't have this go publicly," he looked apologetic.

I reluctantly nodded, arms crossed and still looking very annoyed.

"Now, unfortunately we made a mistake. That fall was supposed to put you in a coma, one of our interns must have been monitoring the hospitals, and allowed you to die instead."

I scowled at this news, and raised my hand, asking permission to speak.

"Promise me not to yell, Audrey?"

I nodded, he raised his index finger and thumb again, this time they were already touching, and he released them from each other. At this, my lips unsealed themselves.

"I can forget this all happened, just send me back to my body. Happens all the time, medical miracles," I said, voila! Cullen saves the day.

Jasper looked at me sheepishly, "I wish I could, ma'am. Really, I do. But the problem is, you've been dead for twelve hours now. That would be far too much of a miracle. We have a policy here, never do anything too extreme. People need to believe for themselves, we can't force it on them."

"BUT YOU CAN FORCE DEATH ON ME?" Screw not letting word get out, I've deserve to yell.

One more raise of the fingers, and I was once again mute.

"Alright, ma'am. I'm going to get through this much quicker if you just listen. What I can do for you is place you into a new body, a chance to start over. We have a recently departed body, 24 year old female in New York, close to your old life. You will keep your memories, just in a new body. I'll quickly give you some facts on her, her name is Bella Swan, graduated from a very prestigious Chef's school, owner of her own restaurant, Twilight, located in Manhattan. She is single, no kids, parents Charlie and Renee, and that's basically it," he finished. "Ready, Mrs Cullen?"

Before I could protest, I was falling downwards, I quickly shut my eyes to brace myself for impact.

The fall never came, and my ears were assaulted with loud beeping noises and frantic voices.

When I finally opened them back up, I realized I was in a crowded hospital room.

_Oh Thank God! It was only a dream!_

Finally, my father in law stood over me. A warm smile coming to his face.

"Carli.." I started.

"Welcome Back, Miss Swan."

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authors note,

well. this is it. second chapter.

please review. it would be very very lovely if you did. i'm starting on the second chapter now, so hopefully it will be up before the weekend is done.

more reviews, more motivation!

love you! jpaul


	3. Chapter 3, At Your Funeral

**Chapter One, At Your Funeral**

I laid in the too small bed, in the too small hospital room, looking around at the plain walls. When I saw the small tv in the corner, the reflection startled me. My shoulder length black hair was now long and brown. My blue eyes were now a deep chocolate brown. My tanned skin was now pale white. I was no longer Audrey Cullen, I was now Bella Swan.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming towards my room. I closed my eyes, and willed my body to not move an inch. I had been "sleeping" through every visitor Bella had gotten in the last two days.

It was an educational experience. So far I'd learned that her best friend is Jacob Black, and had been since they were six years old. I also learned that I had to steer clear of him, because I was sure that he would notice the difference between the old Bella Swan and the new Bella Swan. Her father, Charlie, seemed like a quiet man, and her mother, Renee, was very eccentric. The love that radiated off of all of them made me feel sick. They lost their daughter, and they didn't even realize it.

A man cleared his throat. _Please don't be her boyfriend, please don't be her boyfriend._

"Audrey," the familiar southern voice said.

My eyes shot open, and in front of me I saw Jasper Whitlock, the reason I had ended up in this position.

"I know you're angry with me," he began.

"You don't know anything! Listen Jasper, all I want to do is go back to Edward and explain this whole mess to him. Just get me out of here, please," I begged.

A sheepish look came across Jasper's soft features. His blond bangs hanging in front of his face.

"You can't do that, Audrey. I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

"_WHY NOT?_" I exclaimed, that wouldn't stand. I'd been through enough, and I wasn't going to be a doormat anymore.

He was gaining confidence by my anger, almost as though he was feeding off of it.

"Think about it, he's not going to even believe you. If you tell him, you might as well get used to this place. You'll be spending a lot of time in the psych ward."

I sighed, knowing he was right. I knew Edward better than anyone, and he wasn't one to believe in anything that wasn't plausible. I looked up at Jasper, tears forming in my eyes, "What should I do then?"

"Audrey, you're still the same person inside. All you need to do is get him to fall in love with you as Bella."

A manic laugh escaped my throat. _Easier said than done_. How was I supposed to get a newly wed widow to fall in love with a new women?

"Jasper, you're being no help at all. You've done enough here, why don't you just go back on up to the gates, and screw up someone elses' death?" I said with acid leaking through my words.

He flinched, physically affected by my hard words. I felt bad about my anger, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"I've been demoted, actually. I'm now officially your guardian angel," he said in a quiet voice. I sat disbelieving, at a loss for words. He cleared his throat and continued, "my first duty is to bring your some information that might help you."

He handed me a piece of paper, two addresses, one signature, many different numbers, and names written on it.

"This is all you'll need to become Bella Swan, and you've officially been released from the hospital. So, lets get going shall we?" He tried to give me a genuine smile, which I then returned with a scowl.

He seemed to get the hint, and a bag of clothes on the visitors chair before retreating from the room.

I slowly stood, learning how to walk in a new body was surprisingly difficult. I opened the bag, and found a black, lacy dress with black flats. What was this, some sort of joke? When I took the clothes out of the bag, a note fluttered to the floor.

Curiosity beat my anger, and I picked it up.

_Country Meadows Cemetery  
2pm, your funeral_

_Hope this makes it a little better, Jasper_

For the first time since I'd died, a smile formed on my face. I nearly sprinted towards the bathroom, clothes in hand.

I changed with my eyes closed, it still felt weird looking at another woman's naked body, even if it was mine now.

I looked in the mirror, slowly getting used to the new face staring back. I grabbed a ponytail off of my small wrist, and twisted my long wavy brown hair into a bun.

I ran out of the hospital, and hailed a cab in record time. What I didn't anticipate was that Bella didn't seem to carry money around in her wallet. When it came time to pay, I grabbed the piece of paper, and tried every combination of number that Jasper had written down.

After the sixth try, I finally got it right. I sprinted towards the crowd gathered at a newly dug grave.

I stopped cold when I saw him standing there, surrounded by the crowd I recognized as my friends and co-workers.

He was wearing a black tux, perfectly fitted to his sculpted body. His bronze hair more messy than I remembered, probably because he had ran his hands through it constantly since he received the news. Knowing Edward, the bridge of his nose was probably bruised too.

It pained me to see the pain that I had caused him, my heart wrenched as his tears fell slowly from his eyes. I wished I could go up to him, rub my thumb along the wrinkles forming in between his eyebrows, kiss away every tear, and repeat, "I'm still here," until he believed me.

But I knew I couldn't. I was no longer Audrey, I was now a stranger.

I couldn't stay any longer. I couldn't witness this. I was beginning to think that was Jasper's point all along.

Before I could turn to leave, Edward began to walk towards me. He smiled and waved. My heart fluttered with hope, maybe he could see it was still me underneath this new body. He could feel the magnetic pull that was between us.

"Bella! Hey," he said, his voice was thick with tears. It was breaking, his throat sounded like a frog.

He cleared it before continuing.

"I wanted to just say thank you, for showing up here. You didn't have to do that,"

I couldn't say or do anything, I was paralyzed. How did he know me.. Bella? He looked at me expectantly.

"Oh.. it's no problem," the foreign voice said back.

"It shows me that I really made the right choice, the way you run your business as a family, it's just what I'm going to need now," his silk voice said, the friendliness replaced the love that I was used to.

All I could do was nod, I cleared my throat, and tried to sound sympathetic rather than confused.

"Just take as long as you need, I can tell how much Audrey meant to you, and I'm so sorry for your loss," my voice cracked at the last word. The tears threatening to spill.

He shook his head, the sadness in his eyes shining through. "I think this is going to be just what I need. Being in that house without her.." he stopped, and I knew it was my cue to leave. I couldn't take this. I was killing Edward, and I couldn't stand it.

"Alright.. I guess that I'll see you at work then.. Sorry for your loss.." Dammit! I really should have gotten better at acting.

I slowly started walking away from my own funeral, I know people always wish they could see their own funeral, but its not all it's cracked up to be.

When out of eye shot, I ran. I ran more than I had in my entire life, wishing I could run away from this nightmare, back into my bed, with my husband.

I ran into an abandoned barn, light shining through the slits. I found somewhere to sit, and slunk down to the floor. The tears finally escaped the jail of my eyes, and I was surprised I wasn't creating a floor.

A throat cleared beside me, and I looked up to see Jasper.

"Why would you send me there? Why would you do that?" I ask, appalled at the betrayal to his morals.

"I thought it would help, I'm very sorry Audrey.."

"Bella." I corrected him. I couldn't take that. I didn't want to remember who I was. It was slowly killing me, again.

He simply nodded, sat beside me, and let me cry for hours. For the first time, I really felt like he was my guardian angel.

Four hours later, when my new body was drained of all its tears, I made my decision.

"Jasper, you can live in Bella's house. I have somewhere I can stay."

"Aud.. Bella, I don't like the sounds of this," he said, as if he truly knew what I was preparing myself to do.

"Alice needs to know, Alice will understand. She's been my best friend for my entire life. Just please, let me keep her?" I begged.

He reluctantly nodded.

Within minutes, Jasper and I were sitting in his car outside of Alice's apartment.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked with a kind voice. I debated it for a while, not knowing how this was going to turn out, having Jasper there to make me feel better afterward sounded like a good idea.

But I knew this was something I had to do alone. So I shook my head, and slowly made the familiar walk toward Alice's apartment complex. When I got to her door, I rang the doorbell.

Behind the thick door, I heard Alice's shrill voice yell, "Coming," the sadness thick.

She opened the door, only a sliver.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her small figure shaking.

I cleared my throat before starting. "Alice, it's me. It's Audrey," I said. Hoping to sound confident, hiding my fear.

"I used to have a friend named Audrey, she died three days ago," she started crying. Only Alice would bear her life story to a stranger, that's why I knew that if anyone would believe me, it would be Alice. She was so trusting of everyone.

"That's me, Alice! I swear it is. It's going to sound absolutely nuts. I know that. But ask me anything! My name is Audrey Summer Cullen, maiden name is Rodgers, I was born February 18, 1989. I married your brother, Edward Anthony Mason Cullen on June 13. We were going on a honeymoon to a secret location, and on the day I died, I was meeting you to go shopping," I said, all in one breath. By the end, I was panting.

Alice gave me a pointed look, "That's not funny," she said in a very angry voice. For such a tiny girl, Alice was terrifying when she was upset.

"I swear, Alice. In grade two you had a crush on our teacher, Mr. Aro. You wrote him love letters and left them on his desk every day until he finally called your parents and told them about it, then you switched to writing him hate notes. When we were sixteen, you were convinced you were psychic, and we even set up a psychic reading station at our high school fair," her eyes were starting to grow wide, and I could tell reality was setting in.

She didn't talk for what felt like hours, before her high pitched voice finally asked disbelieving, ".. Audrey?"

I slowly nodded.

One part of my life back, millions to go.

* * *

Authors Note,

still looking for a beta! let me know!

please review :)

will start writing soon, if i get enough reviews then i'll try to post it for tonight or tomorrow!


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